A 60-year-old man presents with dizziness, nausea and severe shoness of breath of several months' duration. Physical examination shows hepatomegaly, ascites and anasarca. His blood pressure is 200/115 mm Hg. An X-ray film of the chest demonstrates cardiomegaly and mild pulmonary edema. Although different mechanisms may have contributed to the pathogenesis of hypeension in this patient, the common end result for all of them is which of the following?

In patients with systemic hypeension, the end result of autoregulation is always increased peripheral resistance. Most cases of hypeension represent an imbalance between renal function and sodium homeostasis. In this context, the renin-angiotensin system increases blood pressure, whereas this axis is antagonized by atrial natriuretic factor. Cystic medial necrosis is a factor in aoic dissecting aneurysm. Vasodilation decreases blood pressure. Decreased plasma oncotic pressure may be a consequence of uncontrolled hypeension, but does not cause it.